Pneumatic player mechanism.



F. 0. WHITE.

PNEUMATiC PLAYER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR-2,1915.

1,168,924; Y Patented Jan.18,1916.

5% wmgraiz% W/ZI/ZE rm: COLUMBIA PLANOGRIAPH 60., WASHINGTON, D. c

" nnrr sra rgus we FRANK 0. WHITE, OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR To TI-IE wILCoX & WHITE COMPANY, or MEBIDEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION or ooNNEcTICUT.

PNEUMATIC PLAYER MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRAN C. WrIITE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Meriden, New Haven county, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and apparatus, designed to be, actuated either,

by a powendriven exhauster, or 'a' manually operated exhauster, or both. case, the instrument may be said to be operating automatically. In the second case, when power is being furnished by the foot-' impelled exhauster, the instrument is being i operated and controlled manuallyw In the third case, that is to saywhen the instru ment is being driven normally by thepowerdriven exhauster and is'therefore operating automatically, the player or operator may desire to vary the air tension from that which would be otherwise automatically eifected, and my improvement aims to make it possible for him to effectively do so. For

example, suppose aso-called crash effect is desired at any moment: The operator of the instrument may press the foot pedal powerfully so as to create the desired degree ofhigh tension in the foot-impelled exhauster. This tension will be instantly transmitted to the action-chest to secure said crash eiiect, even though'the powerdriven exhauster is'operating simultane-' ously therewith.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated my invention by asingle conventional view, partly in section. J

In said drawing, 1 conventionally represents an action-chest associated with the usual striker pneumatics,not shownrr 2 represents conventionally the manually operated exhauster, which may have the usual foot treadles, one beingindicated at 3.

. 1 conventionally, represents a powerdriven'exhauster which may be associated with any suitable form of motor. 4; by l which it is driven. a p 5 represents a valve casing.

6 represents a duct leading from the eX-' hauster 2 into chamber 7 ofthe valve casing.

. 8' is a port in one wall of chamber 7 lead-" 65 ing into chamber 9 of said valve casing.

In the first Specification Letters Patent. Patentgfl Jan, 18, 1916 Application filed. April 1915; Serial Nb. 18,687.

'ing to prevent air from flowing from chamber 12 into chamber. 9.

' '17 is a valve, preferably a slide valve, by which the port 1a may bemore or less cut. oif at certain times, but which valve 17 normally stands open,- as shown in solid lines in the drawing.

18 is a normally expanded pneumatic suitably connected to valve 17 19 is a port leading from the chamber 7 into the pneumatic 18. v i

20 is what Imay term a leak opening in the duct 11, while '21 is a valve by which this leak opening 20 may be wholly closed or opened to any desired degree, and by which the air tension on the power-driven side of the action may be varied even though the motor 4 and the exhauster 4 are working at a certain fixed speed. g

It should be understood that the various parts-which I have described may be modi- 16 being open and the valve 15being closed. I

Should it at such a time be desired to manually increase the tension momentarily for' any purpose, theoperator may press powerfully upon the treadle 3 so as tofsecure the desired tension in the chamber 7. This should result in the quick opening of the valve 15,but= since it is necessaryto' first choke the 'port 1 1, and thereby the eX- hauster 4, before the exhauster 2 can overbalance the tension in the action being crev ated by said exhauster 4,1 provide choker means for said port. To accomplish this result, in the preferred form, I provide the valve 17 which, when the air tension in the chamber 7 is suddenly increased, is closed more or less by the pneumatic 18, the latter being in connnunication with the chamber 7. When the valve 17 has sufficiently closed the port 14-, and this is performed almost instantaneously, it is obvious that the effcctive tension of the power driven exhauster on the action will be instantly weakened and hence the valve 15 will readily open, so that the high tension manually effected by the pressing of the treadle 3 will be communicated quickly to the action. The degree to which the valve 17 closes the port 1% obviously varies according to the pressure on the foot treadle 8, and also according to the air tension in the chamber 12 and duct 11,v all of which tensions are variable, because it is possible to manually press the treadle 3 with any desired degree of force, and because it is customary to provide means at the power-driven side of the action-chest to vary the effective tension at that side when the instrument is being automatically played. While the valve 17 may fully close the port 14:, in practice it would probably never have to fully close said port in the performance oi" its function.

It will be understood that vacuum in the action may be secured wholly by the manually driven exhauster 2, in which event if the power driven exhauster 4: is not operating, the valve 16 will be closed, as indicated in dotted lines and the valve 15 will stand open, as also indicated in dotted lines. In this instance, the valve 16 prevents the exhauster 2 from drawing air from the power exhauster side of the apparatus precisely as the valve 15 prevents the power driven exhauster from drawing air from the manually driven exhauster side of the apparatus when the latter is idle. 45

What I claim is:

1. In a pneumatic player apparatus, an action, a power driven exhauster in communication therewith, a manually driven exhauster, also in'communication therewith, means operating to prevent the power driven exhauster from drawing air from the manually driven cxhauster side, and means to prevent the manually driven exhauster from drawing air from the apparatus on the power driven exhauster side, and means for automatically choking off the power eX- hauster upon the operation of the manual exhauster.

2. In a pneumatic player apparatus, an action, a power driven exhauster in communication therewith, a manually driven exhauster also in communication therewith and partially through a common passage, check valves between said common passage and each of said exhausters, said valves opening toward said exhausters respectively whereby the exhausting of air from said common passage by one exhauster will tend to close the check valve for the other exhauster, and means for automatically choking oil the power exhauster upon the operation 01" the manual exhauster operable by the air tension created by the operation of the manually driven exhauster.

3. In a. pneumatic player apparatus, an action, a power driven exhauster in communication therewith, a manually driven exhauster also in communication therewith and partially through a passage in common to both exhausters, check valves betn een said common passage and each of said exhausters,

said valves opening toward said exhausters' respectively whereby the exhausting of air from said common passage by one exhaustc r will tend to close the check valve for the other exhauster, and means for automatically choking oil the power exhaustcr upon the operation of the manual exhaustcr, said means being operable by the air tension cre ated by the operation of the manually driven exhauster, and comprising a valve co-acting with the passage leading to the power driven exhauster.

4. In a pneumatic player apparatus, an action, a power driven exhauster in communication therewith, a manually driven exhauster also in. communication therewith and partially through a passage in common to both exhausters, check valves between said common passage and each of said exhausters, said valves opening toward said exhausters respectively whereby the exhausting of air from said common passage by one exhauster will tend to close the check valve for the other exhauster, and means for automatically choking off the power exhauster upon the operation of the manual exl1zu1ster,said means being operable by the air tension created by the operation of the manually driven exhauster and comprising a valve co-acting with the passage leading to the power driven exhauster and between the check valve therein and the passage in common.

5. In a pneumatic player apparatus, an action, a power driven exhauster in communication therewith, a manually driven exhauster, also in communication therewith, means operating to prevent the power driven exhauster from drawing air from the manually driven exhauster, and means to prevent the manually driven exhauster from drawing air from the power driven exhauster, and means to lessen the effect of the power driven exhauster on the action while said exhauster is running to thereby 1 relatively increase the effect of the manually driven exhauster when the same is operated simultaneouslywith the power driven exhauster.

6. In a pneumatic player apparatus, an

action, a power driven exhauster in communication therewith, a manually driven exhauster also in communication therewith and partially through a passage in common to both exhau'sters, check valves between said common passage and each of said exhausters, said valves opening toward said exhausters respectively whereby the exhausting of air from said common passage by'one exhauster will tend to close the check valve for the other exhauster, and pneumatically operated Copies of this patent may be obtained for weaken the operation of the other exhauster on said action when the manually operable exhauster is operated simultaneously therewith. I

8. In a pneumatic player apparatus, an action, two exhausters arranged to be operated separately or simultaneously and being in communication with said action to draw air therefrom, one of said exhausters being arranged for manual operation, and means to relatively weaken the effective operation of the other exhauster on said action when the manually operable eXhauster is operated simultaneously therewith, said weakening means including a pneumatic controlled by the tension of air in the manually operable exhauster.

FRANK 0. WHITE.

Witnesses:

. A. Gr. KUHNLE,

E. M. GRISWOLD.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

